Runner
by FanFictionBros
Summary: Alexander Drake always wanted to make a difference. After a freak accident while watching Spiderman fight Electro Alex finally gets his chance as the new vigilantly...Runner. -by Rtcw ((continuation/rework in Neo-Avengers!))
1. A new hero in New York City

Runner Chapter 8

The men lowered their weapons and backed away slowly.

Norman smiled "I don't know what this is about Peter but rest assured, you won't get away with this."

Karissa came out of the vault, "Come on Ben let's go." The two of them escaped to the roof where a helicopter waited for them.

As they boarded however Norman and his men began opening fire on them. Ben fire back as the chopper took off. Unable to bring the chopper down Norman watched it disappear into the night.

On the flight back Ben sat gripping his gun tightly, he couldn't shake the feeling he had when he saw Norman and was prepared to shoot him. Deep down inside of him it felt wrong, in the pit of his stomach he felt conflicted.

Back at Hydra things were quiet, all the higher up's were away at staff meetings and getting plans organized.

Ben sat alone in a dark room, he asked to be put there, just himself and the depths of his mind. He let his mind wonder, he was trying to find peace to calm himself but his lack of memories made it difficult to do. Suddenly the door opened and the light crept into the room over to him. He looked up and saw Karissa standing in the doorway. She didn't speak but Ben knew to follow her, she wouldn't have come otherwise.

They left the room and headed down a long corridor, they entered a room and a Ben recognize Norman Osborn.

Norman smiled. "Hello Ben. Karissa please fill him in on the details."

"Yes sir." Karissa turned to Ben. "Agent Riley, you have passed your rehabilitation training and have been approved to return to regular duty. Norman Osborn was your field tester and is here to fill you in on Hydra's new objectives."

He smiled confidently. "Thank you. Now then first things first, I am the new owner of Hydra."

Ben was somewhat surprised to hear this but he shrugged off any unnecessary remarks.

"Second is that for our new objective we will now focus on controlling New York and then afterwards we shall control America. To do this we've acquired the help from some very special allies. All I need from you for now Agent Riley is for you to go and get prepped for the exosuit you stole from me."

Ben shook his head and left the room. He went to Dr. Octavius's lad and noticed two suits and another person who he didn't recognize there. Dr. Octavius signaled for Ben to take a seat.

Ben look over at the other person and soon realized it was Norman Osborn's son Harry Osborn. "Harry Osborn? What are you doing here?"

Harry looked over towards Ben and shock filled his eyes. "So it's true, you really do look like him, Peter Parker." Harry suddenly looked down. "That's why I'm here. I want revenge for my friend."

"Revenge? Revenge against who?"

Anger filled Harry's eye's, "Spider-Man. It's all his fault, him and his new sidekick Runner. My father said they were the reason that building exploded and killed Peter. I told my dad I wanted revenge, that I wanted to feel their broken bodies in my hand. Then he told me about this and I gladly said yes."

Harry spoke with a fiery purpose and Ben could see his determination.

Dr. Octavius cleared his throat and motioned for them to look his way. Ben and Harry faced forward and noticed to exosuits, a black one and a red one.

"Now then you two if you would kindly pay attention I will explain what these two suits do." He held up two containers, each contained weird almost liquid like substances that seemed life like. "A while back Hydra discovered a crash site which contained a strange meteorite and this black organism. We took and test it and after a while we called it Venom because of it's need to feed off of and bring out certain human emotions. After a while they tasked me with cloning and mutating Venom. What created was something even more deadly and powerful. We named it Carnage. Mr. Osborn helped me build these two exosuits that will allow the wearer to use the organism's power while lessening the effects the have on the body. You two will be the owners. With you Ben Riley as Agent Venom and you Harry Osborn as Agent Carnage."


	2. Double Trouble!

Archangel here again with an updated second chapter from RTCW's the Runner story. I keep to the original as much as I can and just add in details as much I can, and add some more flow to it. Hope you enjoy!

Peter sighed as he paced back and forth, waiting while Doctor Connors ran some more tests on Alex, who was playing chess at a nearby table. All the while, the good doctor was typing away at his computer and casually glanced to the pacing boy. "So you two, how was fighting Electro the other day? Any complications with Alex's powers?"

"No. For the most part, Alex fought and reacted to everything like he's done this more than me." Peter said slightly astonished at his friends quick adaption to his new gifts.

"Sorry about that Pete, it's just that with everything happening to my body it sort of...reacted on it's own. Everything was happening so fast in my head and yet, so slow at the same time." He tried his best to explain it, but it was difficult to describe.

A loud beeping noise drew everyone's attention to a nearby computer which Doctor Connors turned to look at. "Well that's to be expected of you Alex. Your mind and body are moving at a more faster rate than usual. It appears you have faster senses now because of all of this. You can run faster, have pinpoint accuracy, notice things most people would normally miss, and react like the snap of a finger. But I'm curious, where did Peter and you come up with the name Runner?"

"Oh that's an easy one doc," Alex began grinning, "I run track and also do some parkour so while I was fighting the other day, I was running all and jumping all over the place so we decided on the name Runner."

Peter laughed walking over to the Doctors computer to look at him, "Yeah he was like a teenage Daredevil."

Alex chuckled nodding, "Yeah….so anyway what's your computer saying about me?"

Connors stood up and began walking around as if he were searching for an answer. He finally stopped with a look of bewilderment on his face. "I don't know. The date shows that your body is moving incredibly fast for a regular human. But it also shows some foreign cells inside of you. I'll need more time to figure out what they are."

Peter's phone buzzed, "Doc turn on the TV real fast." Connors compiled, and the news flashed on. Rhino was on a rampage in downtown Manhattan. "In the meantime, I think you two should go deal with him. I'll call you when I have some new information."

Peter and Alex both immediately took off out the door and grabbed their outfits and ran in the city. It wasn't hard to find Rhino as a trail of destruction was in his wake until they finally reached him, but he was too busy tossing cars into buildings to notice them.

He tossed another car blindly forcing Spiderman and Runner to dodge to either side. "Hey dude that almost hit me. Didn't your mother ever teach you not to throw things?" He mused.

Runner's words didn't didn't seem to reach the rampaging man as instead he charged at him, grabbing him in his hand and tossing him through a nearby china shop window.

Spiderman swung over to the broken window, "Check out on express lane one." He joked as he extended an arm down to help him up.

Runner took the aid and stood up, "Haha. Very funny." He said sarcastically. "While you're standing there making jokes, why don't you take a look at Rhino's face?'

Spiderman shrugged and looked towards the man, his eyes red with fury. "Whoa, what's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, but we better calm him down." He replied as the two charged back out at him. Rhino glanced at them and began to charge again aiming his horn down. Spiderman shot some webbing at his eyes which seemed to blind him as runner slid down under him, then quickly jumped upwards kneeing him in his lower jaw. This however, had no effect on the goliath as he ripped the webbing from his eyes and went mad with rage. "Uh oh." Runner grunted as he was grabbed in one of his powerful hands and began to squeeze him.

"Runner!" Spiderman quickly began to look around and noticed a manhole in the street next to him. He quickly shot a string of webbing around it and flung it straight at Rhino's head. The resulting impact was enough to make the metal resonate and cause him to drop Alex from his grasp as he fell to one knee.

Alex quickly vaulted away from the man, "Man I hope you don't hug your wife and kids with those arms." He said catching his breath.

Rhino quickly recovered and began to rear up for another charge, but then began to stagger around. "Ugh..My head. What happened?"

Spiderman shook his head, "Okay...now I'm confused. Weren't you just trying to level the city?"

"Spiderman? Ugh my head is killing me. The last thing I remember was sitting alone at home, and then I'm outside fighting you two here like I'm a prisoner trapped inside my own mind."

"Hmm. Strange. Have you tried hypnosis? I hear it works best for crazy people."

Runner came back running with the hood of a car and delivered a powerful blow straight across Rhino's face, knocking him to the ground instantly.

"Shock Therapy works too. You ok Alex?"

Alex gave a nod, dusting himself off and cracking his back. "Eh, a couple cuts and bruises. Oh maybe a few fractured ribs but I'm good. You?"

"Dandy."

A blue blur quickly rushed past them and sent each flying in the opposite direction. "Whoa, what was that?" Alex asked as he landed on his feet.

"No idea." Spiderman said recovering himself. Suddenly, the blue blur was circling the both of them. "Hey Runner, can you see it? Cause I thought...you know...you're faster and all."

"Yeah, give me a minute." Alex began to focus his eyes and things began to slow down and become more clear. The blue blur moved closer to him, and he could make the outline of a person. He drew his fist back and punched right where he was running.

The hand hit it's mark and sent him tumbling backwards into a nearby building. Spiderman quickly shot some webbing at him forcing him to stay in place. "Let me out of this." He demanded, it was a boy in a blue outfit with silver colored hair.

"No way." Alex said cracking his knuckles. "Who are you? You better talk, or else I'll beat it out of you." His voice became low and more stern.

"Hmph. I'm not scared of you guys."

"Oh really? Well, I can change that." Alex drew back his fist once more, but then his vision went hazy and he lost the strength to stand. "What's...going on?" He glanced over to Peter, but he was falling to the floor too.

"Alex? Alex?!" Peter called out as he walked around the city. He didn't remember what happened, he just remembered losing his sight and falling to the floor. He wandered the streets alone but then turned a corner and saw a man holding another man at gunpoint. He took a closer look. It was his Uncle Ben and his shooter. "Uncle Ben! No!" Peter suddenly couldn't move anymore and just stood there as he watched his Uncle get gunned down right in front of him.

Alex found himself in alone in a hospital, wandering the halls until he saw a room with the lights still on. He looked through the window and saw two other people. "...Mom. Dad."


	3. Ice cold Attack

I compressed chapters three and four into this one, and did the same as I did with all the others. Hope you enjoy!

Alex groaned as he woke up in Doctor Connors lab. He looked around the room as his vision adjusted, and saw Peter sitting down in a chair, he pulled up next to a window. Connors noticed him awaking and walked over, "Looks like you're finally awake." He said with some relief.

"Doc? What happened to us?"

"I don't know. But whatever it was, Peter managed to break free from it and carried you back here. I ran some tests on both of you, but I didn't find anything out of the ordinary so I went to talk with SHIELD and they gave me this." Connors handed Alex a video recording.

Alex walked over to a nearby computer and plugged the disc in. Peter moved from his spot next to the window and began watching the video along side him. It showed two people, a boy with a blue shirt and silver hair running at super speeds, and a girl with red hair shooting what appeared to be red bolts of energy out of her hand and then later hypnotising and Pietro Maximoff." Connors said, "Or better know as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Two twins who volunteered for experiments by the once dead but now revived hydra organization."

"Sounds familiar." Alex said tapping his chin.

"Hydra is the group Captain America tried to take out during World War 2."

"So what are their abilities?"

"Well, Pietro can move and think at superhuman speeds while his twin Wanda can manipulate probability via her 'Hexes"

As they were watching Peter noticed one man the stood out. He had long brown hair, a tactical vest on, and a mask concealing the lower half of his face, and a red star. The most striking feature about him, was the red star was on his metal arm "What about him?"

"James Buchanan Barnes. The Winter Soldier. Hydra's best assassin."

Alex snickered. "Guy gets a robotic arm and suddenly he thinks he's like Wolverine."

"He's bad new." Doc said handing them both a glass of water. "You're lucky it wasn't him you two ran into, or else there'd be nothing left of you."

Alex grabbed the glass and quickly finished his water, "Thanks doc." He said placing it back down on a nearby table. "So how do we track down Hydra?"

"You can't, and why would you want to?"

Peter grabbed his mask and put it back on. "Someone has to stop these Maximoff twins, it might as well be us." He said as Alex gave a nod and followed him out the door.

"Just please be careful!" Was all the doctor could say.

As they began their search for the twins, another search was about to begin. In the snowy mountains of Russia, a small base sits atop a hill. Inside a man was talking with someone on another screen. "Tomorrow, you and your strike team will travel to New York to bring back the test subjects, and bring back the one they call Spiderman. Whomever stands in your way must be eliminated, do you understand?"

The Winter Soldier nodded in agreement, and the call ended.

Back in new york the two heroes decided to halt their search and stop for some pizza. "So," Alex began taking a bite out of his slice, "How do you stop a witch, a hedgehog, and a guy that's stiff as a board?"

Peter tried thinking while taking his own bite. "Hopefully we won't have to fight that Winter Soldier guy. You said you can see Quicksilver?"

"Sort of. I can make out his outline, but he's still moving pretty fast."

"Hm. if you can slow him down, then I lure his sister away so that her illusions don't hit us. With that we can probably win."

"If I take out Quicksilver fast enough then I can help you with Scarlet Witch."

Peter gave a nod as he finished his pizza. "Alright then, we have a plan." He grinned. "Let's hope it works."

The next day the news was reporting several disturbances at the Empire State Building. Spiderman and Runner both rushed over and upon arrival, they were greeted with a tornado. "A tornado in New York?" Peter cried out as he dodge a car, "Runner go find Quicksilver, I'll work on stopping this thing."

"On it. Try not to break anything." He quickly said before heading off in search of Quicksilver.

Peter looked around, "Alright..now how to stop this thing…." He shot his web at a bunch of rubble and began to swing it around and through the tornado, disrupting the wind pattern. The cyclone dissipated and he walked around, "That's taken care of." He felt a tingle and dodged a hex bolt from behind.

Scarlet Witch stepped out from behind a building. "You two shouldn't have come here."

"Uh...shouldn't I be saying that? Besides, you two started this."

"No." she said shaking her head frantically, "You don't understand. He's coming."

"Who?"

"The Winter Soldier."

Alex kept a steady paced as he ran along the streets trying to look for his mark. He finally noticed him, but he was just standing there as if waiting for something. "What's up Danny Boy? Stub your toe or something?" Alex asked in a cocky tone.

Quicksilver turned to face alex, "What are you doing here?"

"Why does every villain ask that?" He chuckled, "I'm here to stop you of course."

"Hmph. You're a fool, do you really think you can beat me?"

Alex moved into a fighting stance, "Won't know unless I try now will I?"

"Ha. Alright then." He charged straight for Alex and landed three quick punches to Alex's chest, knocking the wind out of him.

 _He's moving so fast, but I have to focus. I know I can spot him._ Alex began to focus his vision right as he made another charge. As he went in for a strike, Alex spotted his movements and grabbed his arm stopping him dead in his tracks.

"Gah! Let go of me!" He started to jerk back and forth trying to get Alex to loosen his grip.

Alex lifted him off his feet and swung him into a building, knocking him on his side and causing him to kneel on one knee dazed.

"You're going to have to move faster than that if you want to escape my eyes."

Quicksilver spat on the ground growling, "Fine then. I will." He charged again at Alex, this time fueled by his anger and fury. This time, even Alex couldn't focus his vision as he quickly moved behind him, delivering a strong kick to knock him off balance and then uppercutted him, sending Alex flying into a car windshield.

Alex grunted as he tried to stand up, "Ow..damnit."

"Had enough?" Quicksilver grinned, pacing back and forth until he was grabbed by someone behind him, lifted in the air, and tossed through a window.

Alex looked over and saw the Winter Soldier standing over him. "Um. Hello."

The Winter Soldier said nothing as he picked up Alex at least ten feet off the ground, and drove him hard through the roof of the car, immediately knocking him out. The Soldier moved to grab Quicksilver and turned to leave but stopped.

"I think you have someone we want there." Spiderman said with Scarlet Witch at his side.

"Give Pietro back!" Scarlet Witch snapped at the soldier.

He stood there with an emotionless face and completely still, as if he were carved in stone. He suddenly dropped Quicksilver and grabbed a grenade launcher off his back and simultaneously shot at them. Peter shot some webbing at the grenade and tried to swing it into the air above them, but the shock wave from the explosion sent them both flying forward. Scarlet Witch went crashing into a light pole while Spiderman landed in front of the Winter Soldier who picked him up by the neck.

"Heeeeyyyyy can we talk about this?" A sharp punch in the face shut him up for the time being.

He moved him around his shoulder and grabbed the other two and put them into a nearby unmarked black van, and quickly speeded off.

A couple minutes later Alex woke up gasping and panting for air. "What- Peter? Quicksilver?" He stood up, "Scarlet Witch?" He twirled around but no one was in sight. "Damn! He must have taken them, I have to find them."

With a quick call to Doctor Connors and a couple hours later he arrived at an old abandoned warehouse near the waterfront. He vaulted over from a few buildings over and entered the building from a latch in the roof. He looked around the bottom floor and all three of them were being kept in cages. He stalked across the floor, careful not to make a noise until he reached Peter's cage. He forced it open and swung the door open. When it did, it emitted a loud screeching noise and the Winter Soldier appeared out of the shadows, shooting a grenade at the two. The both dodged to the side and turned to face him.

"You up for a fight Pete?"

"Only if you are Alex."

The two charged at the Soldier as he ran for them, but they were easily outmatched. They each tried to fight him on either side but he was faster and stronger, easily outclassing them with the years of skill and training he had achieved. Whenever Alex threw a punch he grabbed it and tossed him aside like a loaf of bread, and whenever Peter shot webbing at him he dodged like he knew where they were going before they were even shot. Alex tried faking him out and go in for a low strike, but he saw right through it, grabbing his forearm and tossing him over him and across the room. He grabbed his grenade launcher and fired it at Alex without a moment's hesitation.

Without thinking, peter jumped in front of the blast and covering himself around it. The shockwave sent everyone flying back and even managed to open Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch's cages.

When Alex finally recovered he looked over and noticed Peter lying on the ground a few feet away from him, motionless. "Pete?" He tried standing but fell to the floor. "Argh!" He looked to his legs, and could feel his broken bones. Wanda and Pietro noticed him and helped him over to Peter's body. His hands went for his wrist. No pulse. "No…" he spoke shaking his head checking his neck. "No!" He screamed, tears starting to form in his eyes. The twins kneeled down besides him looking over his dead friend. "He's...dead."

As they all sat there in silence the sound of rotating blades of a helicopter quickly approached them, followed by soldiers crashing in from the windows of the warehouse. Some grabbed the Winter Soldier as the rest took aim at Alex and the others. Thinking fast, Quicksilver grabbed Runner and Scarlet Witch began to race out, forcing Alex to drop the body. "Wait! We have to go back! I have to get his body!" Alex screamed.

"There's no time!" Scarlet Witch spoke as the strike team planted a bomb on the ground. "Run faster Pietro!"

Quicksilver managed to get them out of the warehouse and a few extra blocks down before an explosion sounded off, and smoke and fire began to rise out of the rubble.

Quicksilver set his sister down first, then was more careful with Alex, though he was able to stand on his own feet now. "Accelerated healing?" He guessed

Scarlet Witch went to Alex's side. "We're really sorry about your friend."

"It's not your fault. Peter always knew that he was risking his life every day protecting people from danger. I just..never thought he'd go out like that…"

Quicksilver gave Alex a pat on his shoulder, "You two were alright. If you ever need us, don't hesitate to call." He gave Alex a folded up piece of paper and picked up his sister, quickly speeding off, leaving Alex alone again.

That night it took Alex all of his strength to break the new of Peter's death to Doctor Connors and Aunt May. When Aunt May asked about the details he had no choice but to lie, saying it was a freak accident at the science lab and that Peter's body was destroyed in the fire. Ironically enough when Alex returned to the remains of the warehouse Peter's body was nowhere to be found.

Three months went by as people began to mourn the loss of Spiderman, and the disappearance of Runner only made them even more fearful. Alex had quit being a hero not out of fear but out of respect for his friend.

One day while helping Aunt May clean out the attic, Alex stumbled upon one of Peter's old journals. Aunt may said she never opened it to see what Peter had written in it, and that he could keep it. He found himself flipping through the pages of the journal and came across the very last entry. It was written the day after Uncle Ben's death, and it simply read, "With great power comes great responsibility." Aunt May decided to take a break and turned on the TV, only to see the news broadcasting on Rhino, causing havoc downtown again with one headline on the bottom. Alex glanced at it. _Where is the Runner…_ He looked back at the book and then left in a hurry.

Downtown Rhino was tossing cars and shouting, "Yeah! That's right New York, I rule now! No more Spiderman, and no more Runner! Only Rhino!" He cackled.

"Think again Rhiny. I believe one of us is still here." A voice called behind him.

Rhino turned around to see Runner standing in the middle of the road. "Well well well." He mused, "Look who came crawling back. What are you going to do without Spiderman here to help you?"

"Well seeing as how Spiderman was able to beat you senseless without my help, and embarrass you at the same time I think I'm going to do the same thing." He retorted.

"Really?" Rhino said sarcastically, "You think so?

"You know what, you're right. I know I will. Thanks Rhiny."

Rhino roared with rage and charged at Runner. Runner began to run straight for him back as his mind began to race. _With great power comes great responsibility. My friend Peter Parker, known to the city as Spiderman, taught me what that really meant. For a while, I thought I was honoring his death by giving up on being a hero. Now I realize that the only way to truly honor my friend's existence, is to protect the very people he gave his life for. Peter Parker was Spiderman. Me. I'm Alexander Drake. And I am the Runner._


	4. The New Kid in the Big Apple

A couple months passed after Spiderman's death and the Runner picked up the mantle of protecting the city. Most things went back to the way they were before his death, and Runner was doing his best to cope and keep the city safe. Most of the people he was fighting were the old enemies of Peter who thought it would be easy to take over the city, but on a couple occasions some things were different. Several rumors were going around about a new person or creature, showing up around the city. Some videos on the internet captured brief glimpses of a creature escaping the scene, either by vanishing completely, or flying away. Alex saw the videos online, but with the poor quality he figured it was another hoax he'd seen before in the past.

Alex was sitting in his home eating a bowl of cereal and casually browsing his phone. Personally he never saw anything like that on any of his runs around the city or when fighting someone so he dismissed it. He didn't think too much of it, but it would suck to have another villain to have to deal with if it was real. He finished his bowl and moved to sit on a nearby chair and turned his tv on. It was automatically on the local new channel, and it was no surprise that it was reporting on Rhino destroying the downtown area again. "Urggghh." Alex groaned. "How many times do I have to beat this guy? Can't the cops keep one guy in prison?" Over the last couple months since Spidermans death a lot of Peter's old foes stopped coming around. Alex figured that maybe without Spiderman to kill they no longer had a purpose, almost like a hunter with no prey. He grabbed his suit and bolted it out the door running as fast as he could.

As soon as he approached the brute he was forced to dodge a car. "Aw Rhiny, what happened? Does destroying the city make your small ego feel big?"

Rhino turned and roared, "You think you can beat me? I'll crush you!"

"Uh, yeah I do it every Tuesday." Runner grinned. The two had fought before, and now Rhino was more set to defeat Runner after his own.

"Geeeraaaaah! I'll crush you into the stre-"

A loud roar followed by a large black blur quickly replaced where he was standing. "What the-?" Runner quickly turned and saw Rhino go flying past him into a nearby brick wall. He looked forward again and saw something he could not believe. A large dragon almost a quarter taller than Rhino, standing eight feet tall on four legs with steel like scales that shimmered in the sunlight. He let out a loud roar and his wings were spread, revealing the thin, leather like membrane making up his wings. "Who are..what are you suppose to be?" He called out.

The dragon craned his neck down, his eyes orange like fire with sharp irises.. "So...you are Runner." He let out a breath and smoke spewed out of his nostrils. He let out a low growl, and began to turn to the side and run.

"Hold on pal!" Runner gave chase after him and tried to follow after him which lead him into an alley. He looked around, but couldn't see anything. Going on a hunch, he looked up at one of the walls and focused his eyes, and noticed a slight shift in the brick wall. "So you can camouflage yourself huh."

The dragon let out a low growl and let his grip go, landing in front of him. "Persistent. Why are you following me?"

"Hey I'm the one asking the questions here!"

Another low growl. "I have better things to do than play 20 questions with you right now. If you want a meet, give me a location and I'll be there tomorrow night."

Runner bit back a witty remark, "Empire State Building. Come alone." Dreadwing gave a short nod and vanished again. Runner made his exit and the next day was waiting on the top floor of the Empire State Building. It was late at night, and completely void of people. Alex turned his head at the sound of wings flapping in the distance began to draw close to him. The dragon appeared before him but then began to shift. He was much smaller now, and while he retained the guise of a dragon, he looked like a human with normal clothes. He flew over and landed next to Alex. "So what is it you wanted?"

"Alright then. Who are you?"

"Call me Dreadwing."

"What are you?"

"What do you think?" Dreadwing grunted as he folded his arms across his chest.

"I don't know what to think, that's why I'm asking you." Runner retorted.

"Dragon. Mutant. What does it matter?"

Alex sighed, this wasn't a simple fact finding mission as he had hoped. "You weren't born called Dreadwing I imagine. What was your name?"

"Allen." He snorted. "Allen Drakkon."

"What like king Arthur?"

He let out another growl. "Nothing like him. So what is your name then?"

"Hey I'm asking questions here." Alex couldn't let his guard down, he had to look strong. "Where did you come from?"

"Nice try, but that is of little convenience. I'll ask again, what's your name?"

"Alexander Drake." He sighed. "How come I've never seen you before?"

"I'm haven't done too much to draw attention to myself. That and I stay hidden unless I wanted to do something." He tilted his head and looked out over the city.

"Well...it's nice to meet you then. What should I call you by?" Alex said holding out his hand.

"Just...call me whatever you want." He said shaking his hand. "I guess Dread or Allen.

"Nice to meet you then, Allen. So, what's your story?"

Dreadwing didn't answer at first. He waited a moment before speaking. "How it happened is irrelevant-"

"I don't care. I want the story."

"Fine." he growled. "I was walking alone on the streets when all of a sudden I began to change. I felt stronger and faster, and I had all these new...abilities. I had wings, a tail, scale stronger than the toughest steel. I had learned a couple times different people tried to take me, but none succeeded yet."

"Were any of them X-men?"

"Who? Oh them. I think so. I imagine it's only a matter of time until they try again."

Runner was shocked, he was amazed he had never heard of the X-men before, and was jealous at how easy he got his powers but did his best not to show either. "Interesting."

"So what's next then? I'm sure it won't be long before I get taken away. Might as well soak in as much time as I can while I'm still free."

"They won't lock you up. They train mutants. Just don't get involved with me. I have a promise to keep to someone."

Dreadwing grunted, "Oh? To who, Spiderman?"

"Yeah."

"What is it?"

"I promised to protect New York for him."

Dreadwing shrugged. "Place is decent enough. I'll help out."

"No." Alex snapped. "I can't let anyone else get killed."

"Heh, it's going to take a lot to kill me." He opened his wings, "What do you think some guy playing pretend as a rhino is going to do to me?"

Runner shook his head, "Thanks but no thanks." He quickly made his exit.

Dreadwing sighed and was about to jump off the building before he heard someone approaching. He quickly turned snarling, and had his claws out, "So you're Dreadwing." The figure said.

"Who are you?" He growled baring his teeth.

"I am Virus, a special agent and commander and Hydra. I have a warning for you and Runner. Stay away from us or else."

"Virus?" He let out a short laugh, "Right stay away from Hydra? Can't guarantee I can remember those exact words, but I'll tell him."

"You'd better." Virus warned before making his own exit.

Sighing Dreadwing leaped off the building and transformed into his full dragon form, "I'll look for him tomorrow."

The next day around midday he took off into the sky, risking the chance of someone seeing him so he could go faster. "Time to find a super teen." It wasn't long before he picked up on Runners scent and he changed into his half-human form before approaching him. This time his more human features were visible and messy brown hair could be seen along with his natural blue eyes and messy brown hair before the rest of him changed into a human, leaving him in a jacket and jeans. "Hey I have a message for you, some guy thinks I'm some kind of messenger."

"Some guy?"

"Yeah. Calls himself Virus, he works for Hydra. He said something about us doing the right thing, and that we should track down his boy band- I mean Hydra."

Runner sighed thinking for a moment. "We can't. At least not yet. You and I are no match for the Winter Soldier."

"Winter Soldier? I bet I could crush him with just one paw." Dreadwing growled.

"Dude. Seriously."

"I am serious."

Runner shook his head, giving him a stern look.

"Fine1 What are we going to do until then?"

"I don't know. Maybe you should go visit the X-men and get some practice in."

Dreadwing scoffs. "And where would I go for that? Send up a search light in the sky that's just a giant X? That's impractical."

"Good point. Try finding someone called Wolverine."

Dreadwing sighed shaking his head. "Right. I'll do what I can." He said jumping into the air and flying north.


End file.
